a medical librarian's adventures in evidence-based living

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Their evidence speaks for itself. A whole-foods plant-based diet can prevent, and often undo all the damage that our "too-rich diets of affluence" have caused: obesity, heart disease, type-2 diabetes, many cancers, hypertension, strokes, and osteoporosis."

But, gee, who's around at 10:00 Wednesday morning to watch TV? And not everyone has a DVR or a TIVO.

Lucky for me that my friend Marlene, a fledgling plant-strong medical librarian, came to my rescue. She TIVO'd it for me & lent me her copy. Thank you!

Marlene loved the show--and I trust her opinion--so I couldn't wait to watch it for myself this morning.

Look, nothing in the show will be news to any of you, but personally, I never tire of the reinforcement--and it was fun to see Dr. Oz's surprise when he learned that fish and olive oil weren't the super health foods he thought they were!

So, here you go. My notes on the show.

Now, don't expect to find a summary of Forks Over Knives in this post. Been there--done that. To get that, check out these posts:

When the Forks Over Knives Director Starts to Eat Plant-Based - Results Happen!

Lee Fulkerson, FOK's Writer and Director, with Dr. T. Colin Campbell

Trying this diet for himself was a stroke of genius by Fulkerson. It really clinches the deal. Making it even more believable.

Lee's Numbers before eating plant-based:

Weight: 231 lbs.

Blood pressure: 142/82

LDL: 157

CRP: 6 This one really scared him.

CRP Test Results:

Less than 1.0 mg/L = Low Risk for CVD

1.0 – 2.9 mg/L = Intermediate Risk for CVD

Greater than 3.0 mg/L High Risk for CVD

Lee's Numbers after just twelve weeks eating plant-based:

Weight: 211

Blood pressure: 112/70

LDL: 80

CRP: 2.8

Lee was shocked to see how quickly & easily these changes happened--and without any medications.

So was Dr. Oz.

Dr. T. Colin Campbell's Plant-Based Light Bulb Moment

Just so you know, Dr. Oz is an advocate & early fan of Dr. Campbell's "China Study". If you haven't read it--check it out!

Dr. T. Colin Campbell explained how he had his "light-bulb" moment when he finally realized that animal protein promotes cancer cell growth. He had replicated both an Italian & Indian study in his own lab--but with a twist.

Campbell knew from previous research that when animals were fed casein, a milk protein, at levels above 20% of the calories in their diet--cancer cells were turned on--and when they were fed animal protein at levels below 5% of their total calories, the cancer cells were turned off.

Campbell constructed a study that fed the same animals, first a diet of 20% milk protein, and then switched it to 5%--and kept it up--switching them back & forth. His light-bulb moment: "You could literally turn liver cancer cells on and off--like a switch--just by manipulating the level of animal protein in their diets. But plant protein, even in excess of 20% of calories, did not turn on cancer cells nor affect their growth." For a bibliography of Campbell's research, click here.

Oz to Esselstyn: How Challenging Is It to Eat Plant-Based?

When there's something that you can do for yourself that will save your life & give you back your health--it's not challenging--it's common-sense.

Dr. Esselstyn told Oz about his recent follow-up of 220 patients he has seen over the past nine years--since completing his ground-breaking 20 year heart disease reversal study.

Esselstyn says the compliance rate has been a high 92%--because these patients saw the results they got with a plant-based diet--over the alternatives. They were able to avoid surgery, stents, and drugs in favor of the no-side effects of a plant-based diet.

"When they understood that they were the locus of control to absolutely annihilate heart disease they continued to stick with it."

Dr. Neal Barnard: The Three Food Groups You Must Avoid to Prevent Cancer & Heart Disease

Dr. Neal Barnard, an adjunct professor at George Washington University, has a list of publications on the the benefits of eating plant-based that's a mile long. But, don't jump to any conclusions about him--even though this brilliant doc has been eating this way for 25 years--he grew up on a cattle ranch where he lived on steaks & burgers.

Processed foods--anything filled with sugar, salt & fat. This includes oils of all kinds--even olive oil.

Why ditch the fish, Dr. Oz wonders? He loves fish. Isn't it supposed to be so healthy, with all those beneficial omega-3s?

Barnard's response: Guess what? Most of the fat in fish isn't omega-3's--it's a mixture of different kinds of fats, including saturated fat--all of which are completely unnecessary & just end up putting fat on your thighs! Not to mention that is also contains cholesterol.

And it doesn't have any of the nutrients or healing properties found in plant-based foods, like fiber & vitamin C.

Any what about protein? Where are you going to get your protein if you ditch meat & dairy?

Barnard's response: That's easy. First, whole grains are a terrific source of protein. Think quinoa, amaranth, millet, and all the rest. Then there are nuts, like walnuts, pistachios, and almonds. (Yes, Barnard is OK with small amounts of these caloric goodies--but for Esselstyn's heart disease patients, this is still a no-no)

Don't forget about the B-12, Oz reminds the audience--when you go plant-based! But B-12 is an easy nutrient to replace via perfectly safe supplements. Read more here.

What about calcium if you ditch the dairy?

Barnard's response: Calcium is plentiful in many vegetables--and the calcium found in vegetables is more absorbable than the calcium in milk. "Doesn't Want to Brag Broccoli" is 30% protein--with lots of absorbable calcium. Collards & Brussels sprouts are also wonderful calcium sources. And fruits are a great source of potassium and calcium.

Where are you going to get your Vitamin D, if you ditch the milk?

Barnard: The real-source of vitamin D is sunlight on the skin. And guess what? The vitamin D that's found in milk was added to it in the factory--it's not natural vitamin D. And besides, it's almost always added to the non-dairy milks, too--like soy, rice, oat, and almond.

If we ditch the processed foods, what are we going to replace them with? We've got to eat something!

Barnard: This is not a no-carb diet, but we replace the processed foods with healthy whole grain carbs. It's an easy switch. You just switch to whole grain pastas & breads. If you want some crunch--try the seed group! Then there's the original fast food: fruit.

Barnard: Oil is a refined food. Think about it. Where do you get olive oil? There's no faucet on the tree! You have to take 10,000 olives & throw away all the fiber & pulp to get the concentrated oil we pour all over our salads & pasta. And then people wonder why they're gaining weight! 140 calories of pure fat in every tablespoon of the stuff. No doubt about it, vegetable oil is a processed food. For more on olive oil, click here.

"The heat from the pressing produces oxidized molecular groups, many not found in nature. Further processing includes degumming, refining, bleaching, deodorizing, additives, and winterization in order to produce the clear oil with a prolonged shelf life that we find in the grocery stores. It is devoid of the polyphenolic compounds that provide color, flavor, and antioxidant protection. The modern omega-6 to omega-3 ratio is about 16:1 [mostly because of our high intake of processed oils]." Simopoulos, A.P. 1999. Am J Clin Nutr 70(3 Suppl):560S-569s, "Essential fatty acids in health and chronic disease."

OK--I don't want to toot my own horn, but I just have to speak up here! Barnard could have done a lot better than these recipes if he wants to promote plant-based eating. If you're new to this blog, check out the recipes I've posted over the years. I'm picky about my food--and trust me--every meal I eat is delicious. I don't want to settle for ordinary.

Rip Esselstyn's Five Things You Must Keep in Your Kitchen to Cut Your Risk of Cancer

I'm kind of new to the nutritional yeast game, but I'm definitely hooked on the stuff. Ann Esselstyn first introduced me to it when she recommended adding it to Yukon Gold potatoes for marvelous "buttery" mashed potatoes without the butter. These days I'm sprinkling it into my Cheezy Oatmeal and my Smoky Split Pea Soup--and on top of my air-popped popcorn,

Bag of Freeze-Dried Strawberries

This is hot-off-the-press stuff! Researchers at Ohio State University say the freeze-dried strawberries have 10 times the amount of anti-oxidants as the normal kind--and their collaborative study with China showed that eating 2 ounces of them daily for six months reduced esophageal cancer. Read more here. Here's a brand I've tried--available at health food stores or by mail-order. Pricey.

Rhubarb

This is really a vegetable--not a fruit. A Sheffield England study found that when it's baked for 20 minutes it's polyphenols are dramatically increased--making it protective against cancer. Read more here

According to Canyon Ranch's Christine Sardo, in 1 cup of cooked greens in the chicory family you'll get over 600% of your daily vitamin K, over 150% of your daily vitamin A, and 65% of your daily vitamin C--plus a host of anti-oxidants that are essential for cancer prevention. Plus their high folate content protects against colorectal polyps and colorectal cancer.

Here's Rip's recipe for banana ice cream, that he sprinkles with a little nutmeg. This is one of my all-time favorite post-dinner desserts--but I add 1 TBS of cocoa to my frozen bananas--and then mix it up in a Vita-Mix with a couple splashes of soy milk, and make it Mexican-style with a little cinnamon & a pinch of cayenne! Sometimes topping it with a couple of chopped walnuts! Fabulous.

Here's my recipe:

1 large cut-up frozen banana, 1 TBS non-Dutched cocoa, a couple of splashes of oat, almond, soy, hazelnut milk. Whir it up in a VitaMix or a blender. It's a good idea to keep a stash of cut up frozen ripe bananas in the freezer for spur-of-the-moment "milkshakes" or soft-serves. Peel & pre-slice bananas & freeze them in individual baggies for easy use.

Add about 1/2+ cup of milk for an instant chocolate shake. Other add-ins: espresso powder, cinnamon, a pinch of cayenne. Be creative.

This isn't a diet--even though you will lose weight. It's a lifestyle change that will change your health, putting the control in your own hands. It's just a different way of thinking about how we eat.

December 19, 2010

"The health choices you make will determine if we can compete for jobs against Europe and Asia.

Why? We are twice as expensive as Europe & 3 times as expensive as Asia--and that's because we have twice the chronic diseases of Europe, and three times the chronic diseases of Asia.

We will not have jobs in America the way we know it now if we have that big of a differential. In 2009, 17.9% of our gross domestic product was spent on health care. And the way we're going, we'll be at 24% in just 7 years.

We are more expensive NOT because our procedures and medical care costs more--but because we have more procedures and we have more disease.

We either get more competitive--like spending 4% or 5% of our gross domestic product on healthcare, not the present 17.9+%--or we lose jobs & the kind of society we now know. And that's possible only if we can get control over the Four Factors that determine 75% of of our health care costs."

If you received this post via email, click here to get to the web version.

Two weeks ago, on a Saturday afternoon I'm in my car, on my way home, enjoying Marketplace Money on NPR. Then, darn--the City Club comes on with an hour long broadcast of their Friday forum. Not what I was interested in hearing at all. I was just about to turn it off, until I heard that Dr. Michael Roizen was the day's speaker. Not only did I listen to the entire broadcast, but I downloaded the podcast, listened to it again, and took notes so I could share it.

Everyone knows Dr. Roizen--he's a regular guest on Oprah, Dr. Oz's Show, an occasional host of PBS health specials. He's the author of many best-selling health books, all part of his continuing You--An Owner's Manual series. He also happens to be the Chief Wellness Officer of the Cleveland Clinic. And, in a few weeks this poster child for healthy aging will be 65!

He's a tireless cheerleader for staying health, and now he's added one more super important reason to get healthy: like JOBS, having a Manufacturing Base, & $$$$. If we can make the "very doable" lifestyle changes that are needed to control 75% of our chronic diseases--we can cut 75% of our health care costs--and regain our competitiveness in the world market.

Roizen speaks a mile a minute--and he covered a lot of ground in his City Club talk. But here are some the highlights!

Note: I apologize that I don't have the sources for the data or statements presented in this post. They come from my careful notes of Dr. Roizen's lecture--I didn't have the benefit of his slides. Where it was obvious to me what studies he was citing, I made some corrections.

Dr. Roizen's Tour of Our Health By the Numbers

75% of Chronic Disease in the U.S. is Caused by Four Factors That Can Be Easily Controlled with Lifestyle Changes:

Tobacco Use

Bad food choices/over-sized food portions

Lack of exercise

Stress

75% of Our Health Care Costs are Caused by Chronic Diseases that Could Be Controlled by Lifestyle Changes. In 2007 these conditions were responsible for:

81% of our hospital admissions

91% of all prescriptions

76% of physician visits

A cost of $1.4 trillion dollars dollars--about $6000 a year per person

Obesity is on the Rise and It's a Driver for Diabetes, Heart Disease, Hypertension, and Some Cancers

In 1990 6.9% of the U.S. was obese--NO state had an obesity rate greater than 15%

In 2008 27.9% of the U.S. was obese

We quadrupled our obesity rate in 18 years

Obesity is the PRIMARY UNDERLYING CAUSE of our rising medical costs

The U.S. leads all other countries in obesity--and our rate is rising faster than all other countries

Diabetes rates increase 17 years after obesity rates increase. The South was the first to increase its rate of obesity--and its now seeing a corresponding increase in diabetes 17 years later.

Heart disease rates increase 25 years after obesity rates increase.

Cancer rates increase 35 years after obesity rates increase.

The U.S. has twice as much chronic disease as Europe. Three times as much chronic disease as Asia.

80% more hypertension in the U.S.

110% more heart disease in the U.S.

40% more type 2 diabetes in the U.S.

800% more strokes in the U.S.

In the 55-65 year old group for both men & women: Cancer in Europe is 5.5%; Cancer in U.S. is 12.2%; Arthritis in Europe is 21.3%; Arthritis in the U.S. is 53%

The Percentage of the U.S. Gross Domestic Product spent on treating Chronic Health Diseases (GDP is the total value of all the goods and services produced in one year):

If we could control our chronic diseases by eliminating tobacco use, making the right food & portion choices, exercising, and controlling stress the health care GDP could be at 4-5%.

We Have Control of Our Health - It's Not a Genes Thing - After 35 It's All Up to You!

"Most people think they've hit their peak quality of life at 25-35, and it's all downhill after that. And it is! If you do nothing about it--you hit your peak quality then, and then you start to decline. Before you're 35 it's your genes that take you--but from age 35 on--it's your choices. You can live at the top--prevent & reverse disease--it just not that tough."

-Dr. Michael Roizen-

The Physician's Health Study. Roizen's favorite all-time medical study in the Physican's Health Study, run out of Harvard University since 1982. And by the way--my (H.L.) personal favorite outcome from this 30+ year study is this factoid: Men with healthy behaviors, including smoking abstinence, weight management, blood pressure control, and regular exercise, are not only more likely to survive to age 90 but also to have good health and function at an advanced age (Yates LB et al., Archives of Internal Medicine 2008; 168:284-90.

Roizen's fave has to do with IQ/cognitive decline. As the physicians in the study got older--IQ went down in many, & it's not a trivial decrease--it declined about 5% every 10 years.

But here's the good part: If you look at the ranges, you'll see some people in the study stayed at the top. That's the key. How do you stay at the top of the curve? 25% of the physicians didn't lose their sharpness. Roizen says it's all about the health choices they made: diet, exercise, & not smoking!

Dr. Oz and Rocco, the Cowboy's Turn-around. You can read the whole story here. According to Roizen, in 28 days Rocco "cured" his diabetes, got rid of his hypertension, and started to pull plaque from his arteries, just by changing his diet, and walking 12,000 steps a day. Roizen says, "That's doable for everyone!"

On September 24th, 2009, 53 year old Rocco Wachman of Scottsdale, Arizona was overweight, diabetic, with the heart of an 85 year old. On his meat-heavy diet he was eating the equivalent of 2 1/2 pounds of saturated fat a week! If he kept up this lifestyle, he was headed for serious trouble.

Dr. Oz came to the rescue--challenging him to take on a 28 day vegan diet that cut out meat, dairy, and eggs. He was coached and monitored by Dr. Oz's sidekick, Dr. Michael Roizen--known as the "Enforcer" for his caring, consistent, "positive pushiness". To read more about "Dr. Oz's 28-Day Vegan Challenge for Cowboy Rocco - Heart Disease Reversal Through a Plant-Based Diet Goes Mainstream - Sort Of"click here.

Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn's Heart Disease Do-Over for the sickest of patients. Roizen credits Dr. Esselstyn of the Cleveland Clinic as the pioneer in reversing heart disease through diet. One example of many on the Esselstyn program: A patient with an over 98% artery blockage--and not one normal artery that was usable for a coronary graft. The patient says, "What can I do? I'm going to die, right?" Dr. Esselstyn replies, "No, you change your diet!" 2 1/2 years later the patient's artery is normal--no surgery--just changing his diet. It's not impossible. It's very easy. Of Dr. Esselstyn's program, Roizen says, "If you have significant [cardiovascular disease] you need to do significantly tougher things to reverse it. The Esselstyn program is a little tougher than the Cleveland Clinic's Lifestyle 180 program, but it's something that's very doable. It's a great program, and it's run once a month at the Cleveland Clinic."

The red squares on the left represent the prostate cancer genes. After 3 months of lifestyle interventons, they were down-regulated, showing up as green.

This is Roizen's favorite slide. (not having the benefit of attending the lecture--I'm assuming this slide from the Ornish study is what he's taking about) It demonstrates how our lifestyle choices can literally change our genes. Ornish took 30 men with low-risk prostate cancer tumors, and for 3 months put them on a low-fat (10%) plant-based diet, had them exercise for 30 minutes a day, 6 days a week, and participate in stress management sessions with yoga, stretching, and meditation for 60 minutes a day. Before the intervention, their cancer genes are red--three months later, the cancer genes are turned off, and show green. The men literally "turned off" the RAS family of genes--these are the ones that promote the growth of breast, colon and prostate cancer. Yes, they turned off cancer genes with lifestyle changes. And it gets even better--the also "turned on" the GSTM-1 genes--the protein-producing genes that cause breast, colon, and prostate cancer cells to commit suicide.

They turned off the genes that promote cancer--and turned on the genes that promote its death.

One year later: Roizen shows a slide of one patient's prostate tumor. It is smaller, and his PSA is lower. Low-fat plant-based diet, exercise, stress management, quitting smoking. That's the key.

The Four Fatal Foods Responsible for Our Health Problems - Or, Why You Want to Skip that Ice Cream Cone

Any grain that's not 100% whole grain. "Unless the grain you're eating is made from 100% whole grain, it's not much better for you than white flour, that has been stripped of the healthy outer shell and germ," says Roizen.

According to Roizen, if you have an ice cream cone tonight (that's saturated fat, combined with sugar, and white flour) the sugar from that cone is going to negatively affect the proteins in your body for the length of life of that protein--anywhere from 90 to 100 days--far outlasting the 10-30 minutes of pleasure you're going to get from that ice cream cone.

Yes, that "extra sugar causes the proteins in your body to be less functional and as a result, directly ages your immune and arterial systems and even your joints (hello, arthritis). The joy of the food might last 10 minutes. The protein change lasts months," says Roizen. Click here for more info.

Here's how a sweet innocent thing like sugar can eventually damage your arteries. When sugar gets inside of a protein called "phosphokinase-3", it weakens it, causing a rift or tear between the cells that line our arteries. When those tiny rifts/tears occur in our blood vessels, the body tries to repair them with LDL (our lousy cholesterol) and bingo--plaque begins to form in our blood vessels. Next thing you know, if your blood pressure is high, your blood comes pounding against the blood vessels, further damaging them. Then throw in more saturated fat from your food--like ice cream cones--and over time you've got some nice inflammation going on--which can bring on a rupture of some of your squishy plaque--which sets you up for blood clots to form--and before you know it...you've got a heart attack, a stroke, memory loss, impotence, and yes, wrinkles. "By the way," says Roizen, "impotence or wrinkles in the skin are no different than a heart attack or a stroke, it's just where the damage occurs."

What can you do to forestall the damage? The key point is to look at what starts it in the first place. It's food choices. Your level of blood sugar affects the health of your cells. For the brain & kidneys to stay healthy, that blood sugar level needs to stay below 250 (very high). And you don't get a blood sugar level of 250 from just what you're eating, unless you are diabetic.

But, for the heart and gonads to stay healthy, that blood sugar level needs to be at 110, and every single one of us can get our blood sugar that high with just two ounces of sugared cola. When was the last time you saw someone with a 20 ounce Coke, who only drank 2 ounces of it?

We can't do moderation in the United States. Avoidance is the only answer.

Avoid the sugar in the first place. It will damage the proteins of your heart, gonads, kidneys, brain, and skin.

Avoid the saturated fat in the first place. It will cause inflammation that will change the way your genes function from between 3 to 21 days.

The pleasure of an ice cream cone doesn't last anywhere near that long.

All you have to do to avoid the major instigators of atherosclerosis is to avoid sugar, fat, and any grain that's not 100% whole grain.

The good news is--it's the same thing with cancer. So, we can prevent many common cancers by avoiding the same big bad four: sugar, saturated fat, trans fat, and any grain that's not 100% whole grain.

Dr. Roizen's Thirteen Pearls of Health Wisdom

1. You control what goes into your body, and yes, it that important for your health!

2. You CAN GET A DO-OVER, just like Rocco, the cowboy did, and just like Dr. Esselstyn's patients do.

3. Avoid the known toxins

Tobacco

BPA--and the largest source of BPA is in thermally printed receipts.

Air your dry cleaning outside before bringing it into the house.

Avoid excess radiation from unnecessary medical tests. TSA is no biggie--it has 1/12,000th of the radiation of one CT scan. Avoid CT scans whenever you can.

4. Walk at least 10,000 steps a day. Overpay for a pedometer, if you're going to overpay for anything. Dog walking doesn't cut it. The average dog walker gets 8 minutes of walking a day. You have to do much more than that!

DHA - from fish oil or algal sources. With the growth of farmed fish, the only fish in the U.S. with a predictable fish oil, is wild salmon or trout. Molecularly distilled DHA from fish oil, or algae are safer, and more dependable.

D3 - Take 1000 IUs a day. The IOM report sets the DRI at 600-800 IUs--but their upper safe limit was set at 4000 IUs.

Calcium - be sure you are getting 600 mg a day - most people can get this from their diets.

Magnesium - 400 mg/a day. Most of us aren't getting enough of this vital mineral.

Take 1/2 a multivitamin twice a day--once in the morning, once at night. Why? The vitamin level gets too high if you take it once a day--and you just urinate it out. Use a pill cutter, split it up, and have 1/2 in the AM, and 1/2 in the PM.

Talk to your doctor about taking 2 baby aspirins with a glass of water every day in you're over 40 years old.

11. Sleep--6 1/2 to 8 hours a night. It's the most under-rated commodity in the U.S.

Follow-up post: How's the Cleveland Clinic's Chief Wellness Officer championing wellness in his own shop? They're making tremendous strides--definitely walking their talk over there, with a trend-setting employee wellness program, a hospital food makeover that cuts out the big bad fatal four ingredients, and community outreach wellness programs.

Brenda Stevens wrote: "The February 20th blog post is really important. I am 53 years old, 5'9"
and went from 210 pounds three years ago to 160 in one year, by doing
all the things in this post. Changing one's attitude and thinking about how you spend your time is critical."

I wrote back: "Your story is inspirational. So...what do you think was the biggest factor in your weight loss?"

After I read Brenda's common sense story of diet, exercise, and weight-training I asked her if she would be willing to share some of what she has learned over the past three years with all of us.

Brenda is like so many of us--lots of work and family responsibilities--with too little time to do it all--let alone find the time to exercise and prepare healthy meals. But she finally figured out a way to do it--and as they say, "A picture is worth a thousand words."

Brenda's Story

“Well, you are over fifty now,” said the doctor in response to my question about my little infirmities – the stiffness and pain in the morning, the inability to get out of a booth or a car without help, the difficulty in sleeping, the inexorable upward creep of my blood pressure.

“This is all just a part of the aging process.”

That was me two years ago. Fifty one years old. Aware that I was overweight (a size 20 qualifies, doesn’t it?) but not looking in the mirror much.

Exercise meant a hard slog in the dark and rain in a heavy coat and then feeling exhausted for days or maybe a tweaked knee that made it even harder to get up the front stairs.

Dieting meant no fat, or crunchy tasteless microwaved frozen broccoli – these doomed Herculean attempts never lasted long! I made small permanent changes, drinking only non-fat milk and air-popped popcorn.

Did these changes even slow the rate of my weight gain? Hard to say.

I’d started out my twenties at 125 pounds, walking everywhere in an Eastern college town. But then I moved back to Oregon and got a car and a job, and began the standard American life of driving to work, sitting all day, a doughnut mid-morning, fast food at lunch, driving home into the garage and sitting all evening.

By the time I was fifty, I weighed 210, parked in the closest possible parking spaces and sat on a stool to teach because standing for too long made me dizzy. I was depressed. I felt ugly. I felt hopeless. And after that visit to the doctor, I felt old.

But on second thought, I realized that the way I felt was NOT due to aging. I knew active, healthy people who were over fifty! All I had to do was look in the mirror to know what was wrong. And then figure out how to change it.

"The day I decided this wasn’t a do-it-yourself project was an important day for me. I found a trainer who had years of experience working with middle-aged people and a nutrition degree, and started in."

The Road to a New Me

The road to a “new me” turned out to be a five-fold process, and it took me two years – one to make the changes, and one to learn how to maintain them. These are the five points of change that I put into place, pretty much all at once:

1. My attitude. This was the first and most crucial transformation. I had to change the way I felt about myself and how much time and attention I was worth.

2. How I fed myself. I learned that I had been routinely eating so many calories that even if I cut down, I would still gain weight. Different eating habits were necessary to lose fat, but not cause me to go into starvation mode.

3. The amount of physical activity I engaged in every day. Building up to 11,000 steps was an important part of this.

4. I had to get my heart rate into my training range for 20 to 30 minutes or more at a time, for a total of at least an hour a week. (This is also known as “high-intensity,” “cardio,” or “aerobic” exercise and it is on top of, and different from, those 11,000 steps. And now I’m building up toward two hours per week.)

5. Building muscle tissue – important to have the stamina for all that exercise, and it sped up my metabolism so I had a fighting chance of maintaining my new weight and fitness level once I attained it.

Getting Started with Small Steps

Because I was so unfit, I needed to start at a low intensity of exercise.

I did the muscle training, I did the cardio, just with lower weights and at a lower level than I do now.

Having a trainer who was used to working with middle-aged, overweight women was really important!

And I didn’t start with 11,000 steps a day. I started by wearing the pedometer and seeing how many steps I was taking every day. Less than 1,000! Oops. My first goal was to double that. By the time I’d been at it a couple of months, I was logging 10,000 steps a day. After a few months, I had worked up to the basic routine that I’ve stuck with now for two years.

My Weekly Exercise Schedule

1. The Gym Routine: I go to the gym three times a week--in the morning, so I'm sure I do it--and do a classic weights routine.

I warm up for five minutes or so on the elliptical to save my bad knees.

Then do a series of exercises designed to build and maintain muscle in the upper and lower body and core.

I do three dropped sets per muscle group, with two minutes of elliptical in between.

By the time I get to the cardio part of my session, my heart rate has been in my training range for half an hour. I know this because I have my trusty heart rate monitor on!

Then I'm on the elliptical or the treadmill, in the higher end of my heart training range, for twenty or thirty minutes.

2. My iPod Sets the Pace: Along with the heart rate monitor, my other can’t-do-without-it
resource is my iPod. It’s crucial to my cardio session because it sets
the pace. My footfall has to keep in time with George Harrison,
Demolition Man or Chris Thile--and that's fast! When running on the
treadmill, I keep the incline at 2.5% or more because it makes it
easier on my knees.

3. My After the Work-Out Routine: I drink about 50 calories of apple juice or have a little chocolate toffee after working out – a bit of simple sugars to replace glycogen stores. I don’t do drink sports drinks. It’s too easy to replace all the calories I just burned off! I do drink a lot of water and make sure I stretch afterward, especially the calves, quads, the front of my legs and the hip flexors -- boy can they get sore if you walk a lot and don't stretch them!

4. A Rest Day is Non-Negotiable: I take one day off per week. That's my recovery day. Not even active recovery -- I've done a lot of reading about the necessity of rest and recovery to the system. I'm off my feet that day. Well, that's the goal anyway. It's hard to not walk around now! Walking is my recreational activity of choice!

5. Hour-Long Walks: I take an hour-long brisk walk three times a week. My walking buddy and I meet early in the morning on Tuesdays and Thursdays and burn up four miles. My family likes to get outdoors, so we might go hiking, row on the nearby river, or go for a bike hike on the weekend.

6. Getting My Daily 11,000 Steps In Every Day: For daily activity, I always put my pedometer on when I get dressed and I make sure that I get those 11,000 steps in every day. After the morning walk or work out, I probably have about 5,000 under my belt, and then I supplement with a lunchtime walk and a walk after dinner.

I don’t use labor saving devices – my can opener is a hand crank. I would get up to change the channels manually except that watching TV went out the window somewhere in this whole process!

Managing That Ever Present "Food Thing"

The food thing was hard.

My trainer tested my body composition and I learned that not only was 50% of me made up of fat tissue, my lean body mass would only burn 1800 calories a day.

To lose fat, therefore, I needed to take in no more than 1350 and 1750 calories a day.

I learned about lean meat subs with no mayo or oil--and adding extra vegetables.

I learned that broth-based soups are my friend and that I really do like plain Greek yogurt with fruit and that eating that handful of nuts or bag of chips blows the whole budget for the day.

I learned how to cook vegetables and make salads that were delicious--NOT chewy microwaved broccoli--and that air-popped popcorn and herb tea is a fine evening snack.

And I learned that this wasn’t going to be a temporary fix. This is a new way of "eating for life". And that’s SO true!

The New Me

Two years later, I bumped into Mary at the grocery store.

We had taught in the same school for years, but I hadn’t seen her in awhile.

“Mary!” She looked right through me.

“Mary, hi! Salem! First grade!” Now she looked scared.

“Brenda! Third grade!” She’s backing away. All of a sudden the light dawned.

“Oh my gosh!” She almost shouted. “YOU’RE Brenda!” She stopped and looked me up and down. “What happened? You look so young!"

“I didn’t even recognize you!"

What a difference two years can make.

My life has changed profoundly. Not only am I happy and healthy, but I’m confident that these are permanent changes in my attitude and lifestyle.

When you are happy and healthy, you tend to attract and be attracted by healthy activities and people.

Yes, it takes time and attention, but once you make the commitment to these changes and take the actions necessary to bring the change about, your life will open up in many unexpected ways.

This change is probably one of my proudest accomplishments. I really believe that if I could do this, anybody can!

Brenda Stevens lives and works in Portland, Oregon. She is presently writing a book with her trainer, James Dubberly, on how to transform your life through exercise and nutrition. You can find more of Brenda’s writing on her essay blog: Tearing Up the Pea Patch .

November 06, 2009

On September 24th, 53 year old Rocco Wachman of Scottsdale, Arizona was overweight, diabetic, with the heart of an 85 year old. On his meat-heavy diet he was eating the equivalent of 2 1/2 pounds of saturated fat a week! If he kept up this lifestyle, he was headed for serious trouble.

Dr. Oz came to the rescue--challenging him to take on a 28 day vegan diet that cut out meat, dairy, and eggs. He was coached and monitored by Dr. Oz's sidekick, Dr. Michael Roizen--known as the "Enforcer" for his caring, consistent, "positive pushiness". To read "Dr. Oz's 28-Day Vegan Challenge for Cowboy Rocco - Heart Disease Reversal Through a Plant-Based Diet Goes Mainstream - Sort Of"click here.

Dr. Oz's 4 week plan for Rocco

Rocco
is going to be followed by a cardiologist--thank goodness--and the plan
is to totally reboot his taste buds. No meat, no dairy, no eggs. The
emphasis is more on ditching the animal protein--not so much on the
importance of adding in high nutrient vegetables, like greens, eating
high fiber low-glycemic grains, or eliminating added fats.

Rocco
is concerned about how this diet will affect his sugar. Apparently he
has type-2 diabetes and is on medication. Dr. Oz says, "Not to worry.
I bet when you get rid of your belly, your blood sugar will come down,
and you'll probably be able to get off your medications."

Week 1

Detox
week. No meat. No dairy. No eggs. Break fundamental habits. Replace
meat protein with nuts, beans, and seeds. Take a B12 or multivitamin.
Rocco loves the taste of Oz's bean chili.

Learn
to avoid the junk food. Be cautious. Just because it's not meat, dairy
or eggs doesn't mean it's good for you. Eating French fries &
potato chips is not what the diet is about. Oz encourages Rocco to
find healthy snacks--fruit, vegetables, whole-grain or soy chips. A
little chocolate is OK as long as it has a 75% cacao content.

Week 4

"Vegan
meets reality" Dr. Oz says it's now time to add back a tiny bit of
meat--but just as an "accoutrement". In my opinion, this could be the
downfall of this LITE version of a "heart-disease-reversal-diet".

28 Days Later--How Did Rocco Do?

On November 6, Rocco returned to Dr. Oz's show to see how well the diet had worked!

It worked--check out Rocco's numbers:

Rocco's A1C Test--a measure of how one's body is managing glucose. Diabetics need to keep their A1C below 7%. A non-diabetic will have a level between 4-6%:

Before: 9 (diabetic) After: 7.7 (not perfect, but a lot better)

What's New With Rocco?

"Everything feels different, as if a huge weight has been lifted off of me." -- "If I can do it, anyone can." -- "You've literally kick-started my life, and I have the opportunity of a lifetime!"

He now walks 12,000 steps a day--keeping track with a pedometer. He quit using his ATV and truck to get around his ranch. To get in his 12,000 "steps" he now gets out of the house at 5:30 am, instead of the usual 9:00 am.

Before the diet he was on 3 different medications--but he after only 28 days he was able to come off of 2 of these, one for cholesterol, and one for his diabetes.

His blood sugar is now in the normal range--99--down from 172.

His acid-reflux is gone!

Although he was supposed to re-introduce meat in week 4, after eating some meatloaf, he didn't find it as satisfying. "I figure I will stay way from anything with a face or legs for a few more weeks at least." Roizen recommends doing it slowly, only 2-3 ounces twice a week.

Rocco's Biggest Surprise with the Vegan Diet

"Old Rocco" used to eat meat at every meal. The "New Rocco" now eats 5-7 times a day
choosing from nuts, seeds, soy protein, vegetables and fruit.

He's never hungry! He learned that when he eats the amount of food the size of his palm--he isn't hungry any more--and that he just eats again 2 to 3 hours later.

He now eats more times a day than he did as a meat-eater, but at the end of the day he's consumed less calories, and can lose weight.

The first 7 days were the hardest. "I had to retrain myself to wait for my stomach to tell my brain I was hungry. Previously, I let my brain tell my stomach when to eat."

He plans ahead. There's no meat or junk food in Rocco's house. He keeps a stash of healthy foods on hand when traveling so he isn't tempted by fast foods restaurants. I did spot what looked like a gallon on milk in his fridge.

Favorite vegan meal: A soy burger, pan-fried, served with green onions and garlic, spread with hummus, and layered between two pieces of tomato.

Rocco says that changing his diet isn't anything that he couldn't have done by himself, but the fact that he had the "hands on" support and prodding from Dr. Roizen upped his odds. Besides, he had the pressure of millions of viewers counting on him, wanting to be inspired by his win!

Rocco Says His Former Meat-Eating/Junk Food Diet Was An Eating Disorder

"I have an eating disorder & no one is out there to save fat guys." Thank goodness for Drs. Roizen & Oz.

"It's a problem. I have to stay away from the things that created it--no different from drinking alcohol. No different than if I was addicted to drugs, or some other behavior."

I'm really excited for Rocco. He looks fabulous, and all his blood work, and body measurements have shown that diet & exercise can really improve one's health--and it can be done without drugs.

If he continues on the straight and narrow he's going to be an inspiration to many.

But I still think he's playing with fire if he goes back to eating meat. It's pretty easy to fall back into bad habits & bring back the food cravings that got him into trouble in the first place. He said it himself: "I have to stay away from the things that created it (his health problem)--no different from drinking alcohol."

The advice that I gave Rocco when he started his challenge still stands:

My advice to Rocco:
Read Dr. Calwell Esselstyn's book now that you've completed your 28-day challenge.
Stick to real whole foods and don't rely on faux soy foods. Learn to
cook. Load up on healthy greens. Get a VitaMix and start making Green Smoothies (low on fruit). You really can change your taste buds! Get inspired by the experience of Michael F., who lost loads of weight, changed his taste buds, and best of all--got healthy!

September 24, 2009

Watch Dr. Oz Explain to Rocco the Cowboy How to Reverse His Heart Disease Through a Vegan Diet

11/6/09 Update: Find Out How Rocco Did After His 28 Day Challenge

"After 28 Days on Dr. Oz's Vegan Challenge, Cowboy Rocco is on His Way to Health--"If I Can Do It, Anyone Can!"Click Here

Here's the pitch:

Rocco is a meat-eating cowboy who has volunteered for Dr. Oz's 28-day Vegan Diet Makeover.

Step 1--Rocco has a CT scan of his coronary arteries. Turns out it is not a pretty picture. His scan puts him in the 97th percentile for plaque in his age group. He has the heart of an 85 year old!

Rocco's Reaction? I could swear he has tears in his eyes. He asks, "Is it reversible?" According to Dr. Oz, "Everything is reversible."

Rocco vows to take it as an opportunity to make the best of a bad situation and says, "No one will try harder than I will." "I can't look back, I've gotta look forward." As for a vegan diet: "...that's not a change of diet--that's a change of venue!"

Dr. Oz's 4 week plan for Rocco

Rocco is going to be followed by a cardiologist--thank goodness--and the plan is to totally reboot his taste buds. No meat, no dairy, no eggs. The emphasis is more on ditching the animal protein--not so much on the importance of adding in high nutrient vegetables, like greens, eating high fiber low-glycemic grains, or eliminating added fats.

Rocco is concerned about how this diet will affect his sugar. Apparently he has type-2 diabetes and is on medication. Dr. Oz says, "Not to worry. I bet when you get rid of your belly, your blood sugar will come down, and you'll probably be able to get off your medications."

Week 1

Detox week. No meat. No dairy. No eggs. Break fundamental habits. Replace meat protein with nuts, beans, and seeds. Take a B12 or mulitvitamin. Rocco loves the taste of Oz's bean chili.

Learn to avoid the junk food. Be cautious. Just because it's not meat, dairy or eggs doesn't mean it's good for you. Eating French fries & potato chips is not what the diet is about. Oz encourages Rocco to find healthy snacks--fruit, vegetables, whole-grain or soy chips. A little chocolate is OK as long as it has a 75% cacao content.

Week 4

"Vegan meets reality" Dr. Oz says it's now time to add back a tiny bit of meat--but just as an "accoutrement". In my opinion, this could be the downfall of this LITE version of a "heart-disease-reversal-diet".

What Do I Think of Dr. Oz's 28-Day Challenge?

Oz's heart is in the right place--but I don't think Rocco's heart is going to be in the right place after his 28-day challenge. Yes, Rocco will be better off getting off of meat and dairy. But reliance on fake soy foods? I don't think so. And what about making sure Rocco doesn't gorge himself on carbs? What about instruction on eating high-fiber low glycemic grains, beans, & legumes?

Millions of people potentially will be watching Rocco's challenge. They deserve to be taught more.

Too bad Dr. Oz didn't pass on Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn's advice on what Rocco can do to restore his vascular health.

1. Pay attention to the conclusions of Dr. Lewis Kuller's (University of Pittsburgh) decade long cardiovascular health study. You are not immune from heart disease: "All
males who are 65 years of age and all females who are 70 years old who
have been exposed to the typical Western diet already have cardiovascular diseaseand should be treated as such."

2. The truth is that cardiovascular disease needn't ever exist.
It's absolutely a toothless paper tiger. But if it does exist, it
needn't ever progress, as long as you are willing to change completely
to an oil-free plant-based diet.

3. The basic understanding we all need to accept is thatwith
every meal of oil, dairy or meat we eat, within minutes there is damage
& injury to the "life jackets" of our vascular health--which is the
single layer of endothelial cells that line all of our blood vessels.
The endothelial cells produce the "magical gas" called nitric oxide
which keeps our blood vessels relaxed, prevents our white blood cells
& platelets from becoming sticky and prevents the growth of
plaque--the dread "hardening of the arteries".

4. And what can you eat to insure that your endothelial cells will have the raw materials to produce this healing nitric oxide?
Beans & leafy greens. Load up on kale, collard, chard, bok choy
& beans and you will be well on your way to healing the lining of
your blood vessels.

5. On the positive side--as soon as we stop eating these damaging foods--the endothelial cells have the capacity for restoration.

6. Switching to a plant-based diettrumps every other lifestyle modification you can make. It trumps exercise and it trumps stress management. Both are important--but diet is the trump card.

7. Switching to a plant-based diet even trumps the genetics card. As Essesylstyn says, "Genetics only loads the gun--it's diet that pulls the trigger."

My advice to Rocco: Read Dr. Esselstyn's book as you go through your 28-day challenge. Stick to real whole foods and don't rely on faux soy foods. Learn to cook. Load up on healthy greens. Get a VitaMix and start making Green Smoothies (low on fruit). You really can change your taste buds! Get inspired by the experience of Michael F., who lost loads of weight, changed his taste buds, and best of all--got healthy!